A trillion of anything is difficult to wrap one’s head around, whether it’s the number of grains of sand on a beach or stars in the sky. It’s so much easier for the human mind to look at such a quantity as the sum of its parts rather than on the basis of its individual components.

It’s a little hard not to say “Oh, how the mighty have fallen” when a retailer announces that it will give away for free what was once the world’s top-selling drug. But for retailers, it also makes good business sense.

Over the last few years of DSN’s coverage of the impending patent cliff and how it would affect the generic drug industry, IMS Health VP industry relations Doug Long predicted that the gradual commoditization of primary care drugs — long the lifeblood of generic drug makers — would lead to consolidation of the industry.

Abusive auditing and unfair reimbursement practices harm community pharmacists’ ability to provide critically needed patient counseling and care to seniors, according to a new survey released Tuesday by the National Community Pharmacists Association.

2012 is turning out to be a pretty important year for generic drugs, important enough that some of the things happening over the past several months have begged comparison to 1984, probably the biggest milestone year for the industry.

While the growth in healthcare costs remains a threat in the United States, the growth in drug expenditures is moderating, but numerous opportunities exist for retail, according to a speech delivered Tuesday morning at the National Association of Chain Drug Stores' 2012 Pharmacy and Technology Conference in Denver by Doug Long, VP industry relations of healthcare industry research firm IMS Health.

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SPECIAL REPORTS

Are we in the midst of a beauty revolution? Perhaps. It is no secret that the ever-changing beauty category is all about trends, but one could argue that we are embarking on an especially interesting time in beauty as technology is changing the way consumers shop and new innovations strive to break through the noise.

In this beauty report, Drug Store News takes a deeper dive into some of the leading trends that are reshaping beauty.more ...

IN THIS ISSUE

In this issue, DSN examines PricewaterhouseCoopers' "Top Health Industry Issues for 2015;" takes you on a tour of Murad, shares beauty trends and insights and delves into location-based technology and how it is revolutionizing health, retail.Click here to view the issue.